The present invention relates to interactive hand-held devices, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for receiving and decoding modulated signals for use by hand-held devices, and receiving benefits from receptions of the signals.
The hand-held device of the present invention receive modulated signals for purposes including enjoyment, promotion, transfer of information, data collection, commercial verification, security, education, and transactions or verifications at points of sale, as well as other commercial, personal, entertainment, or amusement purposes collectively referred to herein as “promotional opportunities.” Data is preferably sent to the hand-held device by optical or electrical means, although the device is independent of a specific transmission protocol and therefore may alternatively be sent via other know methods in the art. Data may be received by the hand-held device by utilizing a sleeve, cradle, or docking station; through an optical lens, by use of a PCMCIA or alternate computer port, or by FM, AM, and or other radio frequency means, or other means as may be required based on the type of transmission means selected. Use of the device may allow users to receive, process, and/or store promotional opportunities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,031 to Broughton et al. (“Broughton”), titled “Interactive Video Method and Apparatus,” generally relates to in-band video broadcasting of commands and other encoded information to interactive devices. The invention described therein relates generally to interactive educational and entertainment systems, and is described in one embodiment in the context of television program control of toys located where there is a television receiver, as within a residence.
To encode control data capable of providing a benefit to a user, Broughton discloses a novel method of luminance or chrominance modulation of a video signal that creates a composite video signal, whereby control data is created by modulating the video signal. The novel modulation method alternately raises and lowers the luminance/chrominance of adjacent horizontal scan lines to create a video subcarrier that contains the control data.
Under Broughton, the video signal is not being replaced with other data, nor is the data being added as a separate signal along with the video signal, rather, the video signal itself is modulated to subsequently create the control data. Therefore, the control data is a part of, or contained within, the video signal. The encoding method also includes preview and remove circuitry to ensure suitability or the presence of data encoding and removal of data encoding, respectively.
The control data is transmitted either by television broadcast means, or by pre-recorded video players that are connected to a video display. The control data is then received by the video display where a video field of the video display is modulated by control data. The control data is then detected with either opto-electronic or RF (radio frequency) detection means that discriminate the program material from the control data. The detected control data is further reproduced such that the control data can be used with an interactive device.
A practical example of a device as described above is the commercially-sold hand-held game device for receiving and detecting such control data called the “Wheel of Fortune” ITV Play-Along Game, intended to be used while viewing a television program presentation of the famous television show of the same name. The device, produced under license by the assignee of Broughton, was a palm-sized device that included a photosensor within its case to receive video signals. The device, upon receiving composite video signals, then discriminated the control data from the video program material and caused a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) on the face panel of the toy to present portions of a word puzzle. Thereby users of the device may play the game along with a contestant, or play in response to a videotaped presentation of the game. The “Wheel of Fortune” interactive television (ITV) game together with its hand-held control device including keyboard was commercially available in 1988.
An improvement on the method of modulation described in Broughton is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,228 to Ciardullo et al. (“Ciardullo”). In Ciardullo, improved methods of modulation are disclosed. Control data is inserted on the visual portion of a video signal by changing the luminance of paired lines in opposite directions, thus allowing larger amounts of data to be modulated in a signal. Broughton and Ciardullo are both incorporated by reference herein.
Efforts by others to provide hand-held devices capable of receiving transmission of modulated data from a video display are represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,594,493; 5,761,601; 5,767,896; 5,907,350; and 5,953,047. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,350 discloses a method for storing data on a so-called smart card, which is contended to receive, decode and store encoded data signals comprising redeemable coupons said to be embedded within television segments and transmitted along with normal television segments. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,350 is a hand-held unit that receives luminance signals from the television display in accordance with the principles of Broughton. The received video signals are decoded and stored within the card for future use. An LCD readout enables Universal Price Codes (“UPC”) corresponding to the stored data. A scanner reads the UPC codes at a redemption site, and the stored coupon is then erased from a memory of the card. A microprocessor channels the decoding and storage aspects, and a keypad allows use and input.
The term “smart card” as used in the above patents, connotes a hand-held, portable device, not conceptually different from the above-mentioned “Wheel of Fortune” ITV game device. However, the term does not only apply to those patents.
As a generic term, “smart card” gradually has come to mean a card that looks like a credit card but includes a microchip or microprocessor embedded or incorporated into the card. The smart card may be referred to as a “fingerheld” computer, typically including a data storage media ranging from less than a kilobyte up to a megabyte (if not more), and are said to have originated in France. See, for example, Ognibene, P. J., “Card Smarts,” Technology Decisions (July, 1999). Smart cards may, according to a line of reference, also be called “chip cards.”
Prior efforts by the inventor of this patent application include United States Utility patent application entitled “Interactive Optical Cards and Other Hand-Held Devices with Increased Connectivity”, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/489,373, filed 21 Jan. 2000, by Edward J. Koplar and Daniel A. Ciardullo (“Koplar”), which is incorporated by reference herein. Koplar relates to various methods and apparatuses for use with promotion opportunities, such as interactive advertising and gaming. Koplar describes various methods for receiving and providing data to hand-held devices, as well as apparatuses for use with promotional opportunities and methods of using the same.
While the hand-held devices of the present invention may be in the form of a smart card, they may also be in the form of other hand-held devices such as mobile phones. Recently, mobile phones have become equipped with increased capacity to store and process information, and many phones now offer limited network or Internet access. Industry experts estimate that by 2002, more than 100 million mobile phones will have Internet access in some fashion and that by 2003, more than 1 billion mobile phones will be in use worldwide. Mobile phones, with or without Internet access, may become powerful tools when appropriately configured to receive auxiliary data.
The personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) are another form of hand-held device that may provide users with promotional opportunities under the present invention. The most popular manufacturer, Palm Computing, introduced its first PDA called the “Palm Pilot” in 1996. The latest version of the Palm Pilot, Palm VII, was introduced in 1999 and was the first PDA to include wireless Internet access without needing peripheral devices such as a modem.
PDAs and mobile phones, while capable of providing Internet access, as of the time of this invention have limited capabilities, including slow transfer rates of data. It is desirable to provide users of such hand-held devices and similar devices such as smart cards with hand-held devices that are compact in size yet rich in content that encourage users to participate in various promotional opportunities without having prolonged delays in receiving and processing information. Smart cards, mobile phones, PDAs, and similar hand-held devices are all capable of participating in the promotional opportunities described in this patent application.